By Suleiman Umaru
Yan Bindiga and Yan Ta ‘adda Group, popular, Bandits Group, now a terrorist Organisation as declared by a Federal High Court in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, appears to have deepened the crisis in Zamfara, Kaduna, Sokoto and Kebbi and the north central state of Niger including Katsina, President Muhammadu Buhari, a retired Army General, home state. This is because of the renewed the indiscriminate killing and kidnap of victims for ransom as well as levying of Communities, in order to raise money foot their daily bills.
Only recently the Bandits Group, described as gunmen in several quarters, across the country, had gunned down Rabe Nasir, the Commissioner for Science and Technology, in Katsina, state, that was confirmed Sanusi Buba, the state Commissioner of Police.
The abrupt killing of a serving Commissioner in the Aminu Bello Masari, a former Speaker of House of Representatives and now governor of Katsina state government, has clearly shown that the Bandits are very desperate and ready to draw out Farouk Yahaya, a Lt. General and Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Soldiers , for war. The trigger hungry Bandits, according to security analysts could turn gun against such a top government official in Buhari home state to show that they can strike at any moment in the hot spots state in the north west.
The Bandits Group, may be enjoying the Confrontation between the Islamic Fundamentalist Group, BokoHaram, The Islamic State Of West African Provice, ISWAP and Operation Hadin Kai, OHK, in Borno and Yobe states that they want a similar war situation in the region and Niger state.
In spite of the news making the rounds that the Katsina state Commissioner was killed by the rampaging Yan Bindiga and Yan Ta’adda, terrorist Organisation, armed men, Governor Masari will not take it. The governor would want Nigerians to believe that the Commissioner was killed by hired assassins. He has his reasons.
Indeed, the state government has come out with a Statement claiming that ‘’the Commissioner was ‘’killed in his residence at Fatima Shema Housing Estate by hired assassins and not Bandits’’. Note that the death of the Katsina state Commissioner, may have informed why Samuel Adebayo, a Major General and Director General, National Intelligence Agency, NIA, had met with the governor’’ to take another look on the general security situation on the President’s home state’’, ahead of the Yuletide.
Many believe that the Katsina state governor, may have cue into the hired assassin theory to have been responsible for the Commissioner’s death to draw public sympathy and prevent investors from keeping away from the state over alleged biting insecurity. Where life has become meaningless to the gunmen
While the Katsina state government are yet to come to terms with the Bandits attack and killing of a Commissioner in the state, the Criminal elements turned their gun on Kaduna state. They may not have klled a top government official but they killed a Clergy after collecting an undisclosed amount of ransom from the family to facilitate his release from their custody.
The killed Bandits had abducted and killed Dauda Bature, a clergy man, overseeing the Evangelical Church Winning All, ECWA, Parish, in the Narayi area of Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna state. The Clergyman was said to have been killed by the Bandits despite the payment of an unspecified amount of money as a ransom by his family to facilitate for his release, according to residents. The ECWA,Pastor, was said to have been kidnapped in his farm at a location not far from the Rigasa Train Staion on the outskirts the Kaduna Metropolis on November 8, 2021.
The rampaging Bandits Group, were said to have also invaded an Oil village in Chikun LGA, where they were said to have forcefully taken away a woman and her four children to an unknown location in the state. Mohammed Jalige, the Police, spokesperson , in the state , had said that the suspected armed bandits numbering about 30 with some in military gears and bearing dangerous weapons , had made efforts to break into a residential area in the Chikun LGA, to commit the heinous crime.
The Kaduna state Police Command spokesperson, had confirmed that the Force Operatives went after them on getting a distress call from the Community about the Bandits attack. He disclosed that the Force mobilsed with the support of other security agencies personnel. to the scene , with a view to preventing the Bandits from taking away abducted woman and four children including other kidnapped persons but no luck. The Force was said to have launched Investigations into the two incidents and’’ effort is ongoing to rescue the victims, Jalige, the Force spokesperson had said.
While the Bandits have intensified effort to abduct more person victims to enhance their Negotiating power with the Communities and the state governments, the they were said to have also resorted to levying Communities in the Flash point states which must be paid or risk being attacked. The armed Bandits may have started from Zamfara state, described as their home.
Even the gunmen, call them Bandits, who had abducted Zubairu Erubu, a retired Permanent Secretary and District Head of Erubu , in Kwara, home state of Professor Ibrahim Gambari, Chief of Staff, to the Katsina state born Nigerian President, are demanding for aN60 million ransom from the family. The gun men who were said not to have given room for any Negotiation had insisted that the money must be paid to secure his release.
The Bandits Group may have realised that the could no longer be making cheap money from because of the tight security in Zamfara and the other north western flashpoint states that they have resorted to levying the Communities and which must be paid to save them from any attack.
The criminal gangs were said to have demand the N1 million Levy from Birnin Tsaba, Gabaken, Mesa, Gabaken Maliki, Turaa, Askawa and Yanbuki Communities in Zurmi, Kaura Namoda and Birnin-Magaji LGA, of the north west state.The people of Askawa village were said to have raised N5 million which was handed over to the Bandits as ransom to facilitate the release of the 18 persons abducted and to prevent future attacks on the community.
Given that some of the Communities that were levied the N1million by the Bandits Group are yet to foot the bill to beat the December 11, 2021, may have encouraged them to take the case to Bello Matawalle, the state governor, and Hussaini Rabiu, the state Commissioner of Police to consider it as a top priority to send more security personnel to their respective Communities to prevent the planned Bandits raid over their refusal to pay the N1 million levy.
At present, Gabaken Mesa, Gabaken Maliki and Birni Tsaba, Communities, were said to have raised the NI million, levy which were paid the Bandits to avoid future attacks and threat . Aliyu Abdul, a resident of Askawa village had said that the people of Yanbuki village, who were asked to pay N19 million after Negotiation, had reached a deal with the Bandits, as the levy was slashed to N10 million.
It is instructive to note that the Matawalle, the Zamfara state governor is aware of the NI million levy by the Bandits on some Communities in the state. That much was confirmed by Ibrahim Dosara, the state Commissioner for Information. Appearing on Channels Television, the Commissioner had said that ‘’the government is working closely with the security agencies ‘’ to ensure that the Communities asked to pay the NI million levy by the Bandits Group are secured’’.
Meanwhile Lt.General Yahaya, the COAS , who may have had the privileged security information that the Bandits Group, Insurgents and other Criminal gangs ‘’ disturbing the peace of the country’’ are plotting more attacks in the coming year, 2022, that had urged the Commanders of the various Theatres, across the country to be on the red alert to forestall their effort.
he Army Chief who spoke at a closing ceremony of the COAS, Annual conference 2021 had enjoined the soldiers ‘’to take the fight to the adversary Camp in order’’ to neutralise and defeat them’’. He was emphatic that ‘’Commanders must ‘’develop contingency plans to ensure that the troops would always retain the initiative in all the Theatres of operation’’. This may have informed why he had directed the Theatre Commanders ‘’to prepare for a possible increase in scope and dimension of the activities of violent state actors in 2022’’, in what Pat Utomi, a Professor of Political Economy and Management expert had described as ‘’ Nigeria ultiple Civil wars’’.
He noted that ‘’the focus of the army for the coming 2022 should be on developing more capacities for improved performances across board’’. More so, he has asured the Commanders and their troops that they have no cause to worry as ‘’emphasis will be placed on both individual and unit training that would enhance teamwork and professionalism’’.
Appealing to the Commanders and Commandants of the Nigerian Army apropos to ensure they conduct realistic training in their various institutions, insisting that ‘’it is the only way to ensure the officers and the soldiersare equipped with the right skills and competencies to confront the criminal elements in the various theatr of operation’’.
. The Commanders, and their troops, may have gotten the message right that they are ready to go extra mile to deal with the Bandits and terrorists I in the north east geopolitical region. They may have taken the advice of the COASA serious to ‘’master the art of night operations and anti-ambush drills by engaging in effective night operations and anti-ambush training’’.
This is bad news for the Bandits Group and their BokoHaram and ISWAP, Collaborators as well as the Indigenous People of Biafra , IPOB, whose Leader , Nnamdi Kanu, is already in Department of State Service, DSS,ustody, as 2022, may be a roug yearh for them as they would be counting their human and equipment loses.
